{"id":2010,"date":"2011-12-06T10:57:12","date_gmt":"2011-12-06T15:57:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/redletters\/?p=2010"},"modified":"2011-12-06T10:57:12","modified_gmt":"2011-12-06T15:57:12","slug":"give-anyway","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/2011\/12\/give-anyway.html","title":{"rendered":"Give Anyway"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>This Christmas, I’ve been thinking about how easy it is to become\u00a0 fatigued.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

When we are motivated to action by some severe need we stand up and do something on behalf of the extremely poor.<\/p>\n

But the next time we hear that need…it doesn’t pack the same emotional punch. <\/strong><\/p>\n

We’ve heard these things again, and again, and again…the needs are everywhere. They are in my e-mail, my Facebook, my coffee shop. They are part of the background noise of my world.<\/p>\n

We have made these facts common and uninteresting. <\/strong><\/p>\n

They no longer represent actual children who are actually suffering from starvation, malnutrition, disease, abuse, violence, HIV\/AIDS, rape, sex trafficking, slavery, child labor…\u00a0 They are just concepts filed in a box in our memory.<\/p>\n

They’ve stopped breaking our hearts.<\/strong><\/p>\n

This is what\u00a0 happens when you relocate a memory from your heart to your brain.<\/p>\n

I believe there is only one antidote to this<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Give anyway.<\/p>\n

Give your money and your time and your influence. Give big, give little, and give in between. Give and give some more.<\/p>\n

If you need a place to start…start with the FIVE campaign–five things anyone can do to help those in global poverty:<\/p>\n

1. PRAY five minutes each day on behalf of the extremely poor.<\/p>\n

2. FAST five hours each week–skip ONE meal in the next 7 days on behalf of the poor.<\/p>\n

3. GIVE $5 or more each month. You can start giving right here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

4. SERVE at least 5 days on a mission trip<\/a> or as a volunteer.<\/p>\n

5. ASK five people to join you in doing the same. Change Their Story is a great way to do this, click to register<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This is just one<\/strong> of many starting points you can take. You know what you’re supposed to give away this Christmas season.<\/p>\n

So just give it.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This Christmas, I’ve been thinking about how easy it is to become\u00a0 fatigued.\u00a0 When we are motivated to action by some severe need we stand up and do something on behalf of the extremely poor. But the next time we hear that need…it doesn’t pack the same emotional punch. We’ve heard these things again, and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":87,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57,20,58,6,3,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2010","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-africa","category-christianity","category-hivaids-2","category-kingdom-of-god","category-orphans","category-the-poor"],"yoast_head":"\nGive Anyway - Red Letters<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/2011\/12\/give-anyway.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Give Anyway - Red Letters\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This Christmas, I’ve been thinking about how easy it is to become\u00a0 fatigued.\u00a0 When we are motivated to action by some severe need we stand up and do something on behalf of the extremely poor. 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A tireless advocate for fatherless children, Davis has spent most of his adult life calling U.S. believers to become the hands and feet of Jesus Christ to the 143 million orphans living around the world. Through those connections, thousands of orphans now have the bright and hopeful future--one that is filled with opportunities and the love of the one true Father. Davis speaks hundreds of times each year at churches and conferences, mobilizing the church to action on behalf of the poor. He is the author of four books. His most recent novel, SCARED is a fictionalized account of his first-hand experiencing living and working with orphans in Swaziland, Africa. Davis' blog is the premier resource for the latest developments in Christian orphan ministry. Davis also currently teaches courses as adjunct professor at George Fox University in Newberg, OR. When not traveling the globe, Davis resides in the mountains of Colorado in the small community of Palmer Lake. He and his wife Emily have seven children, including two adopted daughters from Russia.","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/author\/tdavis"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2010","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/87"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2010"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2010\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2013,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2010\/revisions\/2013"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2010"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2010"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2010"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}